MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 218,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 26,873 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $17,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in MetLife by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in MetLife by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MET. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.69.

MetLife Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE MET traded down $1.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $79.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,561,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,406,703. The company has a market capitalization of $53.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.39, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $76.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.17. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.